


Twice the Man

by SpiderKillerTrino



Series: Legend of Zelda Kiss Scenes [28]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Kiss scene, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 16:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30024312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiderKillerTrino/pseuds/SpiderKillerTrino
Summary: Link has to fight off Jolene...again! But this duel doesn't go down like normal, as Jolene quits in the middle of it. As she gets talking, she makes a couple of astonishing declarations.
Relationships: Link/Jolene (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Legend of Zelda Kiss Scenes [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2207004





	Twice the Man

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to fanfiction.net on Feb. 4, 2021.

Link shook his head in exasperation as Linebeck, the treasure hunter who’d been chauffeuring him around lately, dove into a barrel in his ship’s cargo hold. Then he turned his head back up to the gangway that led up to the deck, sword coming out, shield at the ready.

They’d been attacked in open water by Jolene, a notorious pirate around the Ocean King’s archipelago. Link had tried to direct Linebeck clear of her larger vessel, but they’d taken a torpedo or two before they could succeed, slowing them down considerably and making them sitting ducks to be boarded...just like every other time they’d run into the pirate.

Seriously, if she hated Linebeck so much, why did she always insist on boarding them, rather than sinking the boat?

Link shrugged that thought away, though, as he heard Jolene’s footsteps cross the deck and clatter down the gangway; as he did so, he mentally prepared himself for the fight ahead.

Jolene, he knew, was a competent fighter, enough to consistently give him a mild challenge. Her preferred weapon was a cutlass, longer and lighter than the blade Oshus had given him, which added to the advantage in height she already had on him; it was clear, too, that she practiced with it a good deal. Yet there was something in her technique - something sensed rather than observed - that Link was sure was key in his consistent victories over her. She seemed to lean heavily on disarming strikes, going for his sword hand. It was as if she were trying her hardest  _ not _ to harm him. Granted, he generally fought the same way against her, but it was a noticeable disconnect from the cutthroat pirate she seemed to style herself as.

She had reached the bottom of the gangway now, and was facing him in the hold. Her sword was out as her eyes wandered the small room. “He’s hiding again, isn’t he?” she guessed, shaking her head. “Has that big wuss even gotten himself a weapon?”

Link shrugged. “Not as far as I know,” he replied. “Still, I’d rather we got on our way. You may not care, but my friend is petrified and I’d  _ really _ like to change that as quickly as possible.”

Jolene’s eyes flicked briefly over to where Tetra’s stone form stood, before they locked back on Link as she went into stance. “Let’s make this fight quick, then,” she said, beginning to advance on him. Then she stopped, another thought popping into her mind: “You know, if I won and dragged that sad sack of a treasure hound off, you could take this ship and be on your merry way.”

Link gave her a rather unimpressed look. “I don’t know how to sail this thing,” he answered, sliding into his own stance, advancing to meet her. The two of them stood facing each other for a few moments, studying each other’s stances and trying to predict each other’s first moves. Then Jolene’s cutlass flickered forward in a probing cut at his shield, and the fight truly began.

The duel would have actually seemed pretty spectacular for someone who didn’t know much about combat, the two stepping and ducking around each other as their blades moved like serpents’ tongues between. But a practiced eye could have discerned that neither of them went for devastating, lethal strikes. Jolene’s cutlass arced in small, tight circles around Link’s sword hand in a bid to nick it and disarm him, while Link constantly advanced, moving to get inside her range and force her towards the gangway with his shield. It was clear that this fight was going to end only when one of them gave up and disengaged.

As usual, the one to disengage was Jolene, who leapt back suddenly - causing Link to stumble forward a bit - and sheathed her sword. “I’m done,” she declared, somewhat huffily, “I’m not doing this anymore. Seriously, why in the blazes are we even fighting?”

Link looked at her quizzically. “Because...you want to do something bad to Linebeck?” he replied, unsure.

Jolene rolled her eyes. “I guess,” she admitted, “but at this point, why even bother? I mean, is he even worth my time anymore? You’re  _ twice  _ the man he is!”

Link raised an eyebrow at that. “I’m barely a man,” he replied, “just twelve.” Back home on Outset, of course, boys were said to come of age at eleven. He was currently wearing the green tunic and hat he’d received at his own coming of age the year before. But, as he observed, it  _ was  _ rather odd that Jolene was calling him twice the man as Linebeck.

Jolene scoffed at his reply. “One,” she said, “that’s what makes it so pathetic. And two, you sure don’t  _ act _ twelve. You’ve seen some stuff, haven’t you?”

Link shrugged. She wasn’t exactly wrong; between his quest to defeat the resurrected Ganondorf and his current mission to free Tetra from the enchantment she was under, he’d been subjected to a lot of things that he probably shouldn’t have been. He didn’t really have a good frame of reference on how to act his age, though. He did note that the pirate’s expression had softened considerably since the fight had ended. What was going through her head?

There were a few seconds’ more silence before Jolene asked, “You wanna know why I even started chasing Linebeck around in the first place?”

“What the heck,” Link responded with another shrug, putting away his sword, “I’ll bite.”

Jolene smirked. “He and I used to sail together after he accidentally saved me from a sea monster,” she explained. “He was a bloody good partner, too.  _ But _ , as you’ve probably figured out by now, he’s always been kind of a coward. Not too long ago, he snuck off our ship and left me behind. That wouldn’t be so bad on its own, but when he did, he made off with a pretty valuable jewel we’d found - and more importantly, my heart. So I’ve been pursuing him ever since, hoping to get him to take responsibility for at least  _ one _ of those things. Now that I think about it, though, I’m not even sure there’s much point to that. He’s probably  _ long _ since sold that jewel by now. And as for my heart, well…” her lips suddenly curved up into a rather mischievous smile as she looked hard at Link, “...I actually don’t think he has  _ that _ anymore either.”

Link nearly dropped his shield. There was no way...She couldn’t be implying what he  _ thought _ , right? Link was sure she’d be more likely to be interested in someone significantly older than himself.

Then again, how old even was Jolene? It was impossible for him to really tell; people, he noticed, had an annoying habit of looking noticeably younger or older than their actual ages, and, to compound things, he was already a bad guesser. For all he knew, the midnight-haired pirate could still be in her late teens, and he’d be none the wiser about it.

He didn’t get much longer to ponder, though. Jolene had taken a step towards him, saying, “That look I always see in your eyes...that’s not the look of a coward. You’re clearly not the sort of person who always runs away.” She’d taken a few more steps in Link’s direction by now, but stopped, her gaze resting ever so briefly on the lone barrel against the hold wall. “He’s hiding in that barrel, I’m pretty sure,” she observed, “It has a little peephole in the side, so I’ll bet he’s watching us right now.”

There was a minute, barely-audible gasp from inside the barrel, and both Link and Jolene knew Linebeck’s hiding spot was blown. Jolene’s head turned to the barrel as she smirked again. “Watch this fellow closely, Linebeck,” she declared, gesturing at Link, “and take note.  _ This _ is how to conduct yourself. If you do, perhaps one day another young maiden might take notice of you...if you’re not too dense to realize it, of course!”

Her piece said, she resumed her advance towards Link, who, at this point, was beginning to step back. “So, what do you think?” she asked, that mischievous smile back, “We’d make a pretty good match, you and I, wouldn’t we? I may be a pirate, but I can certainly appreciate honor when I see it.  _ Especially _ when it’s wrapped up in such a cute form.”

Link barely held back from facepalming; that line was pretty cheesy. Even so, he felt his face start to flush at the compliment, and took another step back. Then he (rather pathetically) misjudged the next step back and went down on his rear end, shield flying off to the side.

When he cleared the embarrassment from his head, he looked up to see Jolene offering her hand to help him up. Without much thought, he took it, the pirate pulling him back to his feet easily. But she didn’t let go of his hand. Rather, her other hand came up to stroke the side of his face, intensifying the blush he already had. “Yeah, I think it’s official,” she said, smiling playfully at him, “You’re just too cute for your own good.” And then she leaned in. In a split second, Link considered what was about to happen, and decided,  _ What the heck? Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all _ . And so he tilted his face up, lips puckered to meet hers.

Jolene’s kiss was surprisingly gentle, for a pirate. He’d expected something more aggressive. But she was kissing him slowly and softly. Perhaps she sensed this was his first kiss and was holding back in the hope he’d enjoy it. And, in fact, he did, far more than he thought. As her lips closed over his a second, then a third time, Link finally conceded that he would indeed enjoy being in a relationship with her. Hoping to convey his acceptance, he let his free hand settle on the skin of her waist - bared in the gap between her shirt and trousers - and absolutely melted into the tender kisses she continued to lay on his lips.

The moment was cut short abruptly as Linebeck burst out of the barrel he’d been hiding in and petulantly cried, “Alright, I can’t take it anymore! This is just  _ too _ weird!” before hurrying up the gangway onto the main deck. Link and Jolene, having pulled apart at Linebeck’s sudden interruption, watched him go, then looked back at each other, then burst into laughter, leaning on each other to keep from rolling on the lower deck in their amusement. When they sobered up, they shared one last long kiss before Jolene winked and said, “See you ‘round, handsome,” striding up the gangway and back onto her own ship.

And for the first time since Tetra had been turned to stone, Link genuinely smiled.


End file.
